Belt meandering preventive device of used paper recycling apparatus, paper making device, and used paper recycling apparatus

ABSTRACT

In a used paper recycling apparatus of furniture size that can be installed in a small shop or room, this is a belt meandering preventive device of a simple structure for executing the paper making process for manufacturing used paper pulp at low trouble rate and high reliability. A rolling roller rolls on a mesh belt of a paper making net conveyor unit for processing and conveying used paper pulp while applying a tension a, roller oscillating unit oscillates this rolling roller in a direction intersecting with the running direction of the mesh belt, and the rolling roller is maintained at the neutral position so as to be perpendicular to the running direction of the mesh belt when the running position of the mesh belt is in an appropriate running range, and the rolling roller is directed to a meandering correcting direction for moving the running position of the mesh belt into the appropriate running range when the running position of the mesh belt is out of the appropriate running range.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a belt meandering preventive device ofused paper recycling apparatus, a paper making device, and a used paperrecycling apparatus, and more particularly to a belt meanderingpreventive technology in a used paper recycling apparatus of furnituresize, installed at the site of origin of used paper, for recycling andprocessing into reusable paper at the site without discarding thegenerated used paper.

2. Description of the Related Art

Used paper of various types such as used and unnecessary documentsoccurs not only in government offices or private companies, but also indaily life or general household. Used paper is usually discarded,incinerated, or disposed as refuse.

On the other hand, in the global concern about effective use of limitedresources on earth, various technologies have been developed to recycleand use the used paper being disposed and discarded so far.

Such used paper recycling technologies are mostly installed and executedin the paper making industry, and the used paper recycling plantrequires, like the ordinary paper making plant, a vast land, an immenseinvestment, and a huge quantity of water and chemicals for the purposeof high speed and mass production and high quality of recycled paper.

For recycling of used paper, a tremendous manual labor is needed forcollecting used paper, and used paper collection involves variousproblems, such as mixing of foreign matter by multiple garbagecollectors, defective classification due to lack of knowledge about usedpaper recycling, and entry of harmful objects, and if used paper iscollected, in order to recycle by 100 percent as recycled paper, finalchecking by specialists and cleaning works are needed. On the otherhand, confidential documents are not easily recycled and are mostlyincinerated, and the recycling rate is low.

To solve these problems of used paper recycling, an effective method isthe development of a technology capable of recycling at the site oforigin of used paper, and from such point of view, a new system isdeveloped and proposed by the present applicant, for example, inJapanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-174877 as a used paperrecycling apparatus.

This used paper recycling apparatus is a realization of used paperrecycling technology of large scale such as used paper recycling plantin a small size that can be installed in a small shop or a room ingeneral household, and includes, in an apparatus case of furniture size,a pulp making unit for macerating and beating used paper to manufactureused paper pulp, a paper making unit for making recycled paper from theused paper pulp manufactured in this pulp making unit, and a controlunit for driving and controlling the pulp making unit and the papermaking unit in cooperation, in which the paper making unit includes apaper making process unit for manufacturing wet paper from the usedpaper sent from the pulp making unit, and a drying process unit formanufacturing recycled paper by drying the wet paper manufactured inthis paper making process unit, and these two process units are composedin a form of belt conveyor having a running belt for processing andconveying the used paper pulp.

The used paper is macerated and beaten in the pulp making unit to becomeused paper pulp, and then this used paper pulp is conveyed on therunning belt of the belt conveyor in the paper making unit, and isfiltered and dewatered, squeeze and dewatered, and heated and dried, andis formed into recycled paper. In this case, in the stage of pulp, theused paper is decomposed to fiber level, and the printed characters anddiagrams are completely decomposed and lost, and cannot be restored, sothat leak or disclosure of confidential information or personalinformation composed in printed characters and diagrams can be securelyprevented.

BREIF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary object of the present invention to present a novel beltmeandering preventive device of a used paper recycling apparatusimproved further from the paper making unit of the conventional usedpaper recycling apparatus.

It is other object of the present invention to present a belt meanderingpreventive device in a simple structure capable of executing a papermaking process of manufacturing used paper pulp at high reliability, atlow trouble rate, smoothly and efficiently, in a used paper recyclingapparatus of furniture size to be installed not only in a large office,but also in a small shop or a room in general household, by furtherimproving the belt conveyor structure of the paper making unit in theused paper recycling apparatus.

To achieve these objects, the belt meandering preventive device of theused paper recycling apparatus of the present invention is a device forpreventing meandering of the running belt of the paper making unit formanufacturing recycled paper from the used paper pulp manufactured inthe pulp making unit of a preceding process, in the used paper recyclingapparatus of furniture size to be installed at the site of origin of theused paper, including a rolling roller rolling on the running belt ofthe belt conveyor unit for processing and conveying the used paper pulpsent from the pulp making unit, while applying a tension, rolleroscillating means for oscillating this rolling roller in a directionintersecting with the running direction of the running belt, and controlmeans for controlling this roller oscillating means according to therunning state of the running belt, in which this control means controlsthe roller oscillating means so that the rolling roller may maintain theneutral position so as to be perpendicular to the running direction ofthe running belt when the running position of the running belt is in anappropriate running range, and so that the rolling roller may bedirected to a meandering correcting direction for moving the runningposition of the running belt into the appropriate running range when therunning position of the running belt is out of the appropriate runningrange.

Preferred embodiments include the following.

(1) The rolling position of the rolling roller on the running belt isset at a location not interfering with the processing function of theprocessing and conveying location of the running belt.

(2) The rolling roller has its both ends of the rotation support shaftsupported on a support bracket, and the support bracket is oscillatablypivoted on the fixed side support part by way of a support shaftprovided at the central position in the longitudinal direction.

(3) The support bracket is pivoted on the fixed side support part so asto support the rolling roller in a horizontal state and to oscillate ina horizontal direction.

(4) The roller oscillating means includes cam means provided at one endof the support bracket for supporting the rolling roller rotatably, anda drive source for driving this cam means by cam action, and by the camaction of the cam means by the drive source, the support bracket isoscillated.

(5) The cam means includes a drive cam formed as a disk-like eccentriccam rotated and operated by the drive source, and a driven cam formed atone end of the support bracket and made in a form of engaging groove toslidably contact and engage with the drive cam, and by the rotatingmotion of the drive cam, the support bracket oscillates by way of thedriven cam to slidably contact and engage with the drive cam.

(6) The roller oscillating means is formed as an oscillating cylinderhaving a piston rod pivoted and coupled to one end of the supportbracket for rotatably supporting the rolling roller, and by theprotruding and retreating motion of the piston rod of the oscillatingcylinder, the support bracket is designed to oscillate.

(7) Further including belt detecting means for detecting whether or notthe running belt is running in an appropriate running range, the controlmeans is designed to control according to the detection result of thebelt detecting means so as to hold the rolling roller at a neutralposition perpendicular to the running direction of the running belt inthe case the running position of the running belt staying within anappropriate running range, to control the roller oscillating means sothat the rolling roller may be at a meandering correcting position formoving the running belt into the appropriate running range in the casethe running position of the running belt staying out of the appropriaterunning range.

(8) The meandering correcting action of the roller oscillating means bythe roller oscillating means is configured to move the rolling roller tomove gradually from the neutral position to the maximum meanderingcorrecting direction position when the running position of the runningbelt is out of the appropriate running range, and to move the rollingroller to the neutral position to stop when the running position of therunning belt is corrected of meandering to return to the appropriaterunning range.

(9) The meandering correcting action of the roller oscillating means bythe roller oscillating means is configured to move the rolling roller tomove instantly from the neutral position to the maximum meanderingcorrecting direction position and stop when the running position of therunning belt is out of the appropriate running range, and to move therolling roller to the neutral position to stop when the running positionof the running belt is corrected of meandering to return to theappropriate running range.

(10) The running belt of the belt conveyor unit is a mesh belt of apaper making net conveyor unit for manufacturing wet paper from theslurry-like pulp suspension mixed of water and used paper pulp.

(11) The running belt of the belt conveyor unit is a smooth surface beltof a drying belt conveyor unit for manufacturing recycled paper bydrying the wet paper manufactured in the paper making net conveyor unitin a preceding process.

The paper making device of the present invention is applied in a usedpaper recycling apparatus of furniture size to be installed at the siteof origin of used paper, comprising a paper making unit formanufacturing recycled paper from the used paper pulp manufactured in apulp making unit of a preceding process, and includes a paper making netconveyor unit for manufacturing wet paper from a slurry-like pulpsuspension mixed of water and used paper pulp sent from the pulp makingunit, a drying belt conveyor unit for manufacturing recycled paper bydrying the wet paper manufactured in this paper making net conveyorunit, and a dewatering roll unit for squeezing and dewatering the wetpaper at a linkage part of the paper making net conveyor unit and thedrying belt conveyor unit, in which the paper making net conveyor unitand the drying belt conveyor unit individually have running belts forprocessing and conveying the used paper pulp manufactured in the pulpmaking unit, and belt meandering preventive means for preventingmeandering of these running belts is provided, and this belt meanderingpreventive means is composed of the belt meandering preventive devicedescribed above.

The used paper recycling apparatus of the present invention includes, inan apparatus case of furniture size, a pulp making unit formanufacturing used paper pulp by macerating and beating used paper, apaper making unit for manufacturing recycled paper by making from theused paper pulp manufactured in this pulp making unit, and a controlunit for driving and controlling the pulp making unit and the papermaking unit in cooperation, in which the paper making unit is composedof the paper making device described above.

According to the belt meandering preventive device of the used paperrecycling apparatus of the present invention, the rolling roller rollson the running belt of the belt conveyor unit for processing andconveying the used paper pulp while applying a tension, the rolleroscillating means oscillates the rolling roller in a direction tointersect with the running direction of the running belt, and isconfigured to maintain the rolling roller at the neutral positionperpendicular to the running direction of the running belt when therunning position of the running belt is within the appropriate runningrange, and to move the rolling roller in a meandering correctingdirection position by moving the running position of the running beltinto the appropriate running range when the running position of therunning belt is out of the appropriate running range, and therefore thebelt meandering preventive device is realized in a small and simplestructure suited to a very compact apparatus configuration of a usedpaper recycling apparatus of compact size that can be installed in asmall shop or a general household room, so that the running belt of thebelt conveyor unit of the paper making unit may always run stably in theappropriate running range, and thereby the paper making process is avery narrow processing space can be executed at high reliability,smoothly, at high efficiency, and at a low trouble rate.

Accordingly, the present invention realizes and presents a used paperrecycling apparatus of furniture size that can be installed not only ina large office, but also in a small shop or a general household, beingfriendly to the environment, low in running cost, capable of preventingleak or disclosure of confidential information, personal information,and various types of information, and capable of maintaining a highconfidentiality.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will beappreciated by reading the detailed description made in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, and novel facts pointed out in the claimsthereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of an overall outline configuration ofa used paper recycling apparatus in preferred embodiment 1 of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of an overall outline configuration ofthe same used paper recycling apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of configuration of a used paper circulationroute of a beating unit of the used paper recycling apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of configuration of a pulp concentrationadjustment unit of the used paper recycling apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a front view of outline configuration of a paper making unitof the used paper recycling apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a belt meandering preventive device of apaper making net conveyor unit in the paper making unit, in which FIG. 6(a) is a partially cut-away plan view, and FIG. 6 (b) is a partiallycut-away front view of the same.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration of a belt meandering preventive device of adrying belt conveyor unit in the paper making unit, in which FIG. 7 (a)is a partially cut-away plan view, and FIG. 7 (b) is a partiallycut-away front view of the same.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of control configuration of the beltmeandering preventive device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining the meandering correctingaction of the belt meandering preventive device.

FIG. 10 shows a configuration of a roller oscillating unit and a sensorunit in meandering correcting action of the belt meandering preventivedevice, in which FIG. 10 (a) is a partial sectional plan view showingthe mutual positional relation of the roller oscillating unit and thesensor unit, and FIG. 10 (b) is a partial sectional plan view sowing thedetecting operation of the sensor unit.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of outline configuration of the used paperrecycling apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a partially cut-away plan view of configuration of a beltmeandering preventive device in a paper making unit of a used paperrecycling apparatus in preferred embodiment 2 of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is specificallydescribed below while referring to the accompanying drawings. Throughoutthe drawings, same reference numerals refer to same components orelements.

Preferred Embodiment 1

The used paper recycling apparatus of the present invention is shown inFIG. 1 to FIG. 11, and this used paper recycling apparatus 1 isspecifically installed at the site of origin of used paper, and it is anapparatus for recycling into a re-usable paper at the site withoutdiscarding the generated used paper UP, and the used paper UP includesconfidential documents of government offices or private companies,personal letters and others in the general household, and other used andunnecessary documents.

The used paper recycling apparatus 1 is a furniture size as shown inFIG. 11, that is, small in size and shape similar to furniture, such asdocument rack, locker, office desk, copier or personal computer used inan office, and mainly includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a pulp making unit2, a pulp concentration adjustment unit 3, a paper making unit (papermaking device) 4, and an apparatus control unit (control unit) 5, andthe paper making unit 4 includes belt meandering preventive units (beltmeandering preventive means) 10, 11 which are characteristic componentsof the present invention.

These apparatus units 2 to 5 are built in a compact design to beinstalled in an apparatus case 6. The apparatus case 6 is a furnituresize as mentioned above, and may be designed in specific dimensions andshapes appropriately according to the purpose or application. Theapparatus case 6 in the illustrated preferred embodiment is arectangular box having dimensions and shapes similar to a copierinstalled and used in a general office, and the top plate of theapparatus case 6 has an inlet 7 which is opened and closed for supplyingused paper UP, and an discharge port 8 is provided at the side fordischarging recycled paper RP, RP, . . . . At the lower edge portion ofthis outlet 8, a recycled paper receiving tray 9 is detachably providedfor receiving recycled paper RP, RP, . . . discharged from the dischargeport 8.

The pulp making unit 2 is a process location for manufacturing usedpaper pulp by macerating and beating the used paper UP, and is composedof a macerating unit 20 for agitating, crushing and macerating the usedpaper UP, and a beating unit 21 for beating the used paper UP maceratedin the macerating unit 20.

The macerating unit 20 is a process location for agitating, crushing andmacerating the used paper UP, and is mainly composed of a maceratingtank 25, an agitating device 26, and a water feed device 27.

The macerating tank 25 has the inlet 7 formed in its ceiling wall asshown in FIG. 2 for charging and supplying the used paper UP, and adischarge port 28 is provided in its bottom wall for discharging themacerated used paper pulp UPP to the downstream side. The inner volumeof the macerating tank 25 is determined according to the number ofsheets of used paper UP to be processed in batch. In the illustratedpreferred embodiment, the macerating tank 25 has a capacity of agitatingand treating (in batch) a total of about 500 sheets (about 2000 g) ofused paper UP of A4 format PPC (plain paper copier) by adding about 98liters of water. In this case, the concentration of the used paper pulpUPP to be macerated is about 2%. The concentration is adjusted bysupplying water from the water feed device 27, and this water feeddevice 27 is a part of the pulp concentration adjustment unit 3described below.

The inlet 7 has a structure to be opened and closed to the outside of acase cover 6 a of the apparatus case 6. The discharge port 28 is openedand closed by an opening and closing valve 29, and communicates with aused paper pulp circulation route 49 described below. At the location ofthe discharge port 28, a debris filter 30 is provided for removingobstacles for the next beating process, such as clips, staples, pins andothers used for binding the used paper UP, UP, . . . .

The opening and closing valve 29 opens and closes specifically by thecrank motion of a crank mechanism 36 driven by a drive motor 35. Thedrive motor 35 is specifically an electric motor, and this drive motor35 is electrically connected to the apparatus control unit 5.

The agitating device 26 is provided inside of the macerating tank 25,and includes an agitation impeller 40 and a drive motor 41.

The agitation impeller 40 has its rotation shaft 40 a supportedrotatably in an upright position in the central position of the bottomof the maceration tank 25, and is rotatable in the horizontal direction,and the lower end of the rotation shaft 40 a is driven and coupled to arotation shaft 41 a of the drive motor 41 by way of transmission means42 composed of a transmission pulley 42 a, a transmission belt 42 b, anda transmission pulley 42 c.

The water feed device 27 is to supply water into the macerating tank 25,and forms a beating concentration adjustment unit 3A of the pulpconcentration adjustment unit 3 as described below.

The water feed device 27 in the illustrated preferred embodimentincludes, as shown in FIG. 1, a white water collection tank 45, a waterfeed pump 46 for beating concentration adjustment, and a water feed tank47 for paper making concentration adjustment. The white water collectiontank 45 is, as described below, designed to collect white water W (pulpwater of very low concentration filtered through a paper making mesh inthe paper making process) filtered and dewatered in the paper makingunit 4, and the white water W collected in the white water collectiontank 45 is first supplied into the macerating tank 25 from the waterfeed pump 46, and then into a concentration adjustment tank 85 describedbelow from the water feed pump 47.

In this relation, in the bottom of the macerating tank 25, a weightsensor 48 is provided, and the used paper UP, UP, . . . and the water tobe processed in batch in the macerating tank 25 are weighed andcontrolled, and the weight sensor 48 is electrically connected to theapparatus control unit 5.

The weight sensor 48 of the illustrated preferred embodiment is a loadcell, and is designed to sense and measure the total weight of weight ofthe macerating tank 25, and weight of used paper UP, UP, . . . and watercharged and supplied in the macerating tank 25.

In a specific control constitution of the macerating unit 20, in thefirst place, when the inlet 7 is opened by the operator, and the usedpaper UP, UP, . . . are charged into the macerating tank 25, the weightis sensed and measured by the weight sensor 48, and when reaching aspecified weight (number of sheets), the operator is informed of it bysound and/or display. According to the display, when the operator closesthe inlet 7, the water feed device 27 is driven, and the water W in thewhite water collection tank 45 is supplied by the water feed pump 46into the macerating tank 25 by the portion corresponding to the chargedweight of used paper UP, UP, . . . (the number of sheets)

When the operator closes the outlet 7 after charging an arbitrary amountof used paper UP, UP, . . . into the macerating tank 25 from the inlet 7(an amount smaller than the specified weight (number of sheets)), theweight is sensed and measured by the weight sensor 48, and the waterfeed device 27 is driven, and the water W corresponding to the measuredweight is supplied by the water feed pump 46 into the macerating tank 25from the white water collection tank 45.

In the illustrated preferred embodiment, as mentioned above, when PPCused paper UP of A4 format is supplied into the macerating tank 25 byabout a maximum capacity, about 500 sheets (about 2000 g), at thismoment, it is noticed to the operator by sound and/or display, and bythe closing operation of the inlet 7, about 98 liters of water issupplied from the water feed device 27, or when an arbitrary amount ofused paper UP, UP, . . . is supplied (an amount smaller than thespecified weight (number of sheets)), the water corresponding to thesupplied amount of used paper is added to the water feed device 27, andthe concentration of the used paper pulp UPP to be macerated iscontrolled and adjusted to about 2%.

Thus, in the agitating device 26, the used paper UP, UP, . . . chargedinto the macerating tank 25 from the charging opening of the apparatuscase 6, that is, the inlet 7 are agitated and mixed for a specified time(10 to 20 minutes in the illustrated preferred embodiment) in the watersupplied from the water feed device 27 by normal and reverse rotation ofthe agitation impeller 40 by the drive motor 41, and thereby the usedpaper UP, UP, . . . are macerated and beaten into used paper pulp UPP.

The discharge port 28 of the macerating tank 25 is closed by the openingand closing valve 29 during operation of the macerating unit 20, andflow of used paper UP or used paper pulp UPP from the macerating tank 25into the used paper pulp circulation route 49 is blocked, while theinlet 7 is opened by the opening and closing valve 29 during operationof the beating unit 21 described later, and the flowing and circulatingloop of the used paper pulp UPP from the macerating tank 25 into theused paper pulp circulation route 49 is allowed.

The beating unit 21 is a process unit for beating the used paper UPmacerated in the macerating unit 20, and is specifically designed topressurize and beat the used paper UP macerated in the macerating unit20, and to grind and pulverize (into micro-fibers) the inks formingcharacters and patterns on the used paper UP (printing inks formingcharacters and patterns on the used paper UP by various printingtechnologies, or inks forming characters and patterns on the used paperUP by pencil, ball-point pen, fountain pen, and other writing tools).

This beating unit 21 mainly includes a grinder 50. This grinder 50includes, as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of beating disks 51, 52 rotated anddriven relatively, and the pair of beating disks 51, 52 have beatingaction surfaces 51 a, 52 a disposed oppositely and concentrically acrossa tiny beating gap G.

The beating gap G of the beating action surfaces 51 a, 52 a of thegrinder 50 is determined so as to be narrowed gradually, as describedbelow, from the grinder 50 in an initial period of beating process tothe grinder 50 in a later period.

In the beating unit 21 of the present preferred embodiment, as shown inFIG. 3, the used paper pulp circulation route 49 having the grinder 50is formed, and the used paper pulp UP is circulated and beaten for aspecified time by way of the grinder 50 in a circulation system.

By execution of the beating process in the used paper pulp circulationroute 49, in spite of the small and narrow process space in theapparatus case 6 of furniture size, a used paper pulp beating processroute of basically infinite length not limited in length is formed, andthe beating process space equally compared with the beating process of alarge-scale apparatus is realized, and an optimum beating effect isobtained according to the purpose.

Moreover, one grinder 50 carries out the whole beating processthroughout the entire process of the beating process, and this onegrinder 50 has the functions of a plurality of grinders from the grinderin an initial period of beating process to the grinder in a laterperiod. More specifically, the beating gap G of the beating actionsurfaces 51 a, 52 a of the grinder 50 is controlled and adjusted so asto be narrower gradually from the initial period to the final period ofthe beating process.

The grinder 50 of the illustrated preferred embodiment is disposed, asshown in FIG. 2, adjacently to the macerating tank 25 of the maceratingunit 20, on an apparatus machine body 54 composing the apparatus case 6,and as shown in FIG. 3, it further includes a beating tank 55communicating with the macerating tank 25 of the macerating unit 20, thepair of beating disks 51, 52 provided relatively and rotatably in thisbeating tank 55, a rotation drive source 56 for relatively rotating thepair of beating disks 51, 52, and gap adjusting means 57 for adjustingthe beating gap G of the pair of beating disks 51, 52.

The beating tank 55 is formed in a closed cylindrical shape foraccommodating the pair of beating disks 51, 52, and has a supply port 55a for supplying the used paper pulp UPP from the upstream side, and adischarge port 55 b for discharging the beaten used paper pulp UPP tothe downstream side.

More specifically, the supply port 55 a is opened in the center of thebottom of the beating tank 55 toward the vertical direction, and thedischarge port 55 b is opened at the cylindrical side of the beatingtank 55 toward the horizontal direction. The supply port 55 a and thedischarge port 55 b are connected to communicate with the maceratingtank 25 of the macerating unit 20, respectively by way of circulationpipings 49 a, 49 b as shown in FIG. 3, and the discharge port 55 b isfurther connected to communicate with a used paper pulp collection tank60 by way of a discharge piping 59.

Reference numeral 61 shows a direction changeover valve, by thechangeover operation of this direction changeover valve 61, the usedpaper pulp UPP discharged from the discharge port 55 b is selectivelyreturned to the macerating tank 25, or collected in the used paper pulpcollection tank 60. The direction changeover valve 61 is specifically anelectromagnetic valve, and is electrically connected to the apparatuscontrol unit 5.

Of the pair of beating disks 51, 52, one is a fixed side beating diskfixed in the rotating direction, and other is a rotating side beatingdisk which is rotatable. In the illustrated preferred embodiment, theupper side beating disk 51 is the rotating side, and the lower sidebeating disk 52 is the fixed side, and the rotating side beating disk 51of the upper side is disposed oppositely to the fixed side beating disk52 of the lower side, concentrically and rotatably across a tiny beatinggap G. The rotating side beating disk 51 is driven and coupled to adrive motor 56 by way of a rotation main shaft 64 pivoted rotatably tothe fixed side of the apparatus machine body 54 and movably in the axialdirection.

Although not shown specifically, the rotation main shaft 64 is rotatablypivoted on an elevating member of the gap adjusting means 57, and therotating side beating disk 51 is concentrically and integrally attachedat its leading end, and its base end part is driven and coupledintegrally in the rotating direction and relatively movably in the axialdirection on the rotation shaft of the drive motor 56.

The drive motor 56 is a rotation drive source, and relatively rotatesthe pair of beating disks 51, 52, and specifically an electric motor isused, and the drive motor 56 as its drive source is electricallyconnected to the apparatus control unit 5.

The opposite surfaces 51 a, 52 a of the both beating disks 51, 52forming the tiny beating gap G mutually collaborate to form beatingaction surfaces. These opposite beating action surfaces 51 a, 52 a areformed as wheel surfaces having a multiplicity of abrasive grains bondedby a bonding agent. The both beating action surfaces 51 a, 52 a are, asshown in FIG. 3, formed in a taper shape continuously increased in thediameter size in the mutually opposite directions, and are formed asannular flat surfaces parallel to each other at the outermost peripheraledges, and these annular flat surfaces form the beating gap G.

In other words, in the pair of beating disks 51, 52, in the centralposition of the beating action surface 52 a of the fixed side beatingdisk 52, an inlet 70 is formed to communicate coaxially with the supplyport 55 a of the beating tank, and the two annular flat surfaces formedon the outer peripheral edges of the beating action surfaces 51 a, 52 aof the pair of beating disks 51, 52 form an outlet 71 communicating withthe discharge port 55 b of the beating tank 55 and having the beatinggap G.

On the outer circumference of the rotating side beating disk 51, aplurality of blades 72, 72, . . . are formed at specified intervals inthe circumferential direction, and these blades 72, 72, . . . push outthe used paper pulp UPP discharged from the outlet 71 in pumping actiontoward the discharge port 55 b of the beating tank 55 by centrifugalforce by rotation of the rotating side beating disk 51.

By the drive motor 56 as the drive source, when the rotating sidebeating disk 51 is rotated and driven to the fixed side beating disk 52,the used paper pulp UPP supplied into a beating space B by way of thesupply port 55 a of the beating tank 55 and the inlet 70 from themacerating tank 25 of the macerating unit 20 flows into the beatingspace B from the inlet 70, and passes through this beating space B, andis pressurized and beaten by the relatively rotating beating actionsurfaces 51 a, 52 a, and the inks forming the characters and patterns onthe used paper UP are ground and pulverized, and then it is dischargedby way of the discharge port 55 b of the beating tank 55 from the outlet71.

At the time of discharge from this outlet 71, the used paper pulp UPP isfurther pressurized and beaten at the location of the outlet 71 havingthe beating gap G, and is pulverized to a specified micron size (tobecome micro-fiber) defined by this beating gap G.

In this regard, in the present preferred embodiment, as mentioned above,in the circulation system beating process disposing only one grinder 50in the used paper pulp circulation route 49 (see FIG. 3), this onegrinder 50 has the functions of a plurality of grinders from the grinderin an initial period of beating process to the grinder in a terminalperiod, and more specifically, the beating gap G of the grinder 50 iscontrolled and adjusted by the gap adjusting means 57 so as to benarrower gradually from the initial period to the final period of thebeating process.

The gap adjusting means 57 is not particularly illustrated, but isdesigned to move the pair of beating disks 51, 52 relatively in therotation axial direction, to control and adjust the beating gap G ofthese beating disks 51, 52, and is mainly composed of moving means (notshown) for moving the rotating side beating disk 51 in the rotationaxial direction, that is, in the axial direction of a rotation mainshaft 64, and a drive source 66 for driving this moving means. The drivesource is specifically an electric motor, and this drive motor 66 iselectrically connected to the apparatus control unit 5.

By the rotation of this electric motor 66, the rotating main shaft 64 ismoved up and down by way of the moving means, and therefore the rotatingside beating disk 51 formed integrally with the rotation main shaft 64is moved in the vertical direction to the fixed side beating disk 52,that is, in the rotation axial direction, and the beating gap G betweenthe two beating disks 51, 52 is controlled and adjusted.

For this purpose, a position detection sensor (not shown) is providedfor detecting the ascending and descending position of the rotating sidebeating disk 51, and according to the result of detection by thisposition detection sensor, the drive motor 66 is driven and controlled.The position detection sensor is electrically connected to the apparatuscontrol unit 5.

The beating gap G of the beating disks 51, 52 is controlled and adjustedby the gap adjusting means 57 in the circulation system beating processby the used paper pulp circulation route 49 shown in FIG. 3, in mutualinteraction with a circulation pump 69 which is circulating means.

That is, in FIG. 3, the used paper pulp UPP macerated by the maceratingunit 20 is circulated through the used paper pulp circulation route 49by the circulation pump 69, and is beaten by the grinder 50, and at thistime the beating gap G of the beating action surfaces 51 a, 52 a of thegrinder 50 is controlled by the gap adjusting means 57 so as to benarrower gradually from the initial period to the terminal period of thebeating process.

In the used paper pulp circulation route 49, the macerating tank 25 ofthe macerating unit 20 is included, and in this beating process, theagitating device 26 of the macerating unit 20 is driven and controlled,and the macerating unit 20 is driven simultaneously with the beatingunit 21. That is, in the circulation system beating process, the usedpaper pulp UPP flows out into the used paper pulp circulation route 49from the macerating tank 25, while the used paper pulp UPP beaten by thegrinder 50 flows into the macerating tank 25, and therefore in themacerating tank 25, the used paper pulp UPP of different degrees ofbeating is mixed, and by the agitating action by the agitating device26, the degree of beating of the used paper pulp UPP in the maceratingtank 25 is made uniform, and the beating process is promoted.

The used paper pulp collection tank 60 is a location for collecting theused paper pulp UPP beaten and pulverized to a desired size by thebeating unit 21, and the used paper pulp UPP collected herein is mixedand adjusted to a paper making concentration corresponding to thefinished paper quality of the recycled paper RP to be recycled as a pulpsuspension PS, and is sent to the paper making unit 4 in a next papermaking process.

The pulp concentration adjusting unit 3 is a weight type device foradjusting the concentration of the used paper pulp UPP supplied in thepaper making unit 4, by measuring the weight and adjusting the mixingrate of used paper UP and water W supplied into the apparatus, and morespecifically as shown in FIG. 4, it includes a beating concentrationadjusting unit 3A, a paper making concentration adjusting unit 3B, and apulp concentration control unit 3C.

The beating concentration adjusting unit 3A is to adjust the beatingconcentration of the used paper pulp UPP in the pulp making unit 2,corresponding to the beating efficiency by the beating unit 21, and asmentioned above, it is mainly composed of the water feed pump 46 and thebeating concentration control unit 75 for adjusting the beatingconcentration of the water feed device 27.

The supply amount of white water W by the water feed pump 46 of thebeating concentration adjusting unit 3A is preferred to be set so thatthe beating concentration of the used paper pulp UPP macerated andbeaten by the agitating device 26 may be, for example, the maximumconcentration allowable for the beating capacity of the grinder 50 ofthe beating unit 21 for executing the next step of the beating process,and in the illustrated preferred embodiment, it is set to be a beatingconcentration of about 2% as mentioned above.

The beating concentration control unit 75 drives and controls the waterfeed pump 46 so as to supply a necessary amount of water W into themacerating tank 25, as mentioned above, according to the result ofmeasurement from the weight sensor 48. This beating concentrationcontrol unit 75 composes a part of the apparatus control unit 5 asdescribed below.

The paper making concentration adjusting unit 3B is to adjust the papermaking concentration of the used paper pulp UPP in the paper making unit4, to an appropriate concentration corresponding to the finished paperquality of the recycled paper RP to be recycled, and is morespecifically designed to adjust the concentration of the used paper pulpUPP manufactured in the pulp making unit 2 by a division system, and itmainly includes a division extraction unit 80, a suspension preparingunit 81, and a paper making concentration control unit 82.

The division extraction unit 80 is to divide and extract by a specifiedsmall portion from the total volume of the used paper pulp UPPmanufactured in the pulp making unit 2 in the preceding process, andincludes a used paper pulp supply pump 86 for division and extractionfor extracting the used paper pulp UPP of the used paper pulp collectiontank 60 and sending to a concentration adjusting tank 85.

The suspension preparing unit 81 is to prepare a pulp suspension PS of aspecified concentration by adding a prescribed amount of water W forconcentration adjustment to the specified small portion of the usedpaper pulp UPP divided and extracted by the division extraction unit 80,and mainly includes a water feed pump 47 of the water feed device 27.

Although not shown specifically, in the bottom of the concentrationadjusting tank 85, same as in the case of the macerating tank 25mentioned above, a weight sensor 87 composed of a load cell is provided,and is designed to measure and control the amount of the used paper pulpUPP and water W for concentration adjustment supplied into theconcentration adjusting tank 85, and the weight sensor 87 iselectrically connected to the apparatus control unit 5.

The paper making concentration control unit 82 controls by interactingthe division extraction unit 80 and the suspension preparing unit 81,and forms a part of the apparatus control unit 5, and controls the pumps86, 47 of the division extraction unit 80 and the suspension preparingunit 81 by interaction so as to execute the following step of the papermaking concentration adjusting process.

First of all, from the whole volume of the used paper pulp UPP collectedinto the used paper pulp collection tank 60 from the beating unit 21 (inthe illustrated preferred embodiment, about 2000 g of used paper UP+100L of water W), the used paper pulp UPP of a specified portion (1 L inthe illustrated preferred embodiment) is divided by the used paper pulpsupply pump 86, and is transferred and contained in the concentrationadjusting tank 85. As a result, its weight is sensed and measured by theweight sensor 87, and the result is sent to the apparatus control unit5.

In succession, corresponding to the specified portion of the dividedused paper pulp UPP, diluting water W is supplied by the water feed pump47 into the concentration adjusting tank 85 from the white watercollection tank 45 by a specified volume (9 L in the illustratedpreferred embodiment, actually as weighed and measured by the weightsensor 87)

As a result, in the concentration adjusting tank 85, the used paper pulpUPP of beating concentration (2% in the illustrated preferredembodiment) and the water W are mixed and diluted, and a pulp suspensionPS of a specified concentration (about 0.2% concentration or targetconcentration in the illustrated preferred embodiment) is mixed andprepared.

The target concentration of the pulp suspension PS to be prepared isdetermined in consideration of the paper making capacity in the papermaking unit 4 described below on the basis of the results of thepreliminary experiment, and it is set to about 0.2% in the illustratedpreferred embodiment as mentioned above.

In this way, the pulp suspension PS prepared to the paper makingconcentration (0.2%) of the target concentration in the concentrationadjusting tank 85 is transferred and supplied into a pulp supply tank 89from the concentration adjusting tank 85 by a first suspension supplypump 88, and is stored in preparation for the next process of papermaking unit 4. Thereafter, this paper making concentration adjustmentprocess is repeated similarly for the entire volume of the used paperpulp UPP in the used paper pulp collection tank 60. The pulp supply tank89 is provided with a second suspension supply pump 90 for sending thepulp suspension PS into a paper making net conveyor 95 of the papermaking unit 4.

An agitating device 91 is provided in the pulp supply tank 89, and bythe agitating action of this agitating device 91, the paper makingconcentration of the entire stored and held pulp suspension PS isuniformly kept at a specific value.

As described herein, the concentration adjustment by the paper makingconcentration adjusting unit 3 is not done in batch of whole volume, butis done in divided portions, that is, in small portions, and the waterconsumption is saved substantially, and the concentration adjusting tank85 can be reduced in size and shape substantially, and hence the usedpaper recycling apparatus 1 is entirely built in a compact design.

The pulp concentration control unit 3C is to drive and control thebeating concentration adjusting unit 3A and the paper makingconcentration adjusting unit 3B in interlock, and specifically byreceiving the pulp concentration control information (the chargingamount of the used paper UP, the water supply amount into the maceratingtank 25, the beating concentration of the used paper pulp UPP, etc.)from the beating concentration control unit 75 of the beatingconcentration adjusting unit 3A, the paper making concentration controlinformation (the target paper making concentration of the used paperpulp UPP, the division extraction amount of the used paper pulp UPP fromthe used paper pulp collection tank 60, the water supply amount into theconcentration adjusting tank 85, etc.) for adjusting the concentrationof the used paper pulp UPP manufactured in the pulp making unit 2 to thetarget concentration (the paper making concentration) according to thiscontrol information sent to the paper making concentration control unit82 of the paper making concentration adjusting unit 3B, and thereby thepaper making concentration adjusting process is executed.

The paper making unit 4 is a process location for manufacturing recycledpaper RP from the used paper pulp UPP manufactured in the pulp makingunit 2, and is mainly composed of, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, apaper making net conveyor unit 95, a dewatering roll unit 96, and adrying belt conveyor unit 97, and the paper making net conveyor unit 95and the drying belt conveyor unit 97 are provided with the beltmeandering preventive units (belt meandering preventive means) 10 and 11as mentioned above.

That is, the paper making net conveyor unit 95 and the drying beltconveyor unit 97 are provided with, as described below, running beltsfor processing and conveying the used paper pulp UPP manufactured in thepulp making unit 2, that is, a mesh belt 105 and a smooth surface belt145, and these running belts 105 and 145 are designed to preventmeandering by the belt meandering preventive units 10 and 11.

The paper making net conveyor unit 95 is a location for making wet paperby making from slurry-like pulp suspension PS composed of the water Wand the used paper pulp UPP sent from the pulp supply tank 89 of thepulp making unit 2, and mainly includes a paper making conveyor 100 anda pulp supply unit 101.

The paper making conveyor 100 is for conveying the pulp suspension whilemaking paper therefrom, and a mesh belt 105 of paper making meshstructure composed of numerous mesh cells is disposed for filtering anddewatering the pulp suspension PS while running straightly in itsrunning direction.

Specifically, the paper making conveyor 100 includes the mesh belt 105of an endless belt form for conveying the pulp suspension PS whilemaking paper, and a drive motor 106 for driving and moving this meshbelt 105.

The plate member of the paper making mesh structure for composing themesh belt 105 is a material capable of filtering and dewatering the pulpsuspension PS appropriately by way of the numerous mesh cells of thepaper making mesh structure, and preferred materials includepolypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA)(generally known as Nylon, a registered trademark), stainless steel(SUS), and other corrosion resistant materials, and in the illustratedpreferred embodiment, a PET-made mesh belt 105 excellent in heatresistance is used.

The mesh belt 105 is suspended and supported, as shown in FIG. 1 andFIG. 5, rotatably by way of a drive roller 107, a dewatering roll unit96, a drive roller 108, and a belt meandering preventive unit 10, and isdriven and coupled to the drive motor 106 by way of the drive roller107.

The paper making process length of the mesh belt 105 is determinedwithin a range of the upper side running direction length of the meshbelt 105 in the apparatus case 6 of furniture size (in the shownexample, the lateral direction length from the pulp supply unit 101 tothe dewatering roll unit 96 in FIG. 1).

The running speed of the mesh belt 105 is set in consideration ofvarious conditions in the paper making process, and preferably set at0.1 m/min to 1 m/m, and set at 0.2 m/min in the illustrated preferredembodiment. By contrast, in large-scale plant such as conventional usedpaper recycling factory, the running speed of the paper making belt ofthis type is set at least at 100 m/min or more, or even more than 1000m/min in a faster version.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, the mesh belt 105 is disposed so as torun obliquely and straightly toward its running direction, and in thelimited space of installation, the paper making process length can beextended considerably, and the filtering and dewatering rate is enhancedin the relation with the paper making mesh structure of the mesh belt105.

The drive motor 106 for moving and driving the mesh belt 105 isspecifically an electric motor, and is connected electrically to theapparatus control unit 5. This drive motor 106 is also used as therunning and driving source of the dewatering roll unit 96 and the dryingbelt conveyor unit 97 described below.

The pulp supply unit 101 is a location for supplying a pulp suspensionPS onto the mesh belt 105 from the pulp making unit 2, and although notspecifically shown, by this pulp supply unit 101, the pulp suspension PSis spread uniformly on the top surface of the mesh belt 105. The pulpsupply unit 101 is provided at the start end position of the papermaking process of the paper making conveyor 100.

By the second suspension supply pump 90, the pulp suspension PS suppliedinto the pulp supply unit 101 from the pulp supply tank 89 is stored andreserved by a specified amount in this pulp supply unit 101, and by thisreserving action, it is diffused uniformly on the top surface of themesh belt 105. The pulp suspension PS diffused uniformly on the topsurface of the mesh belt 105 is conveyed together with the mesh belt 105by the driving action of the mesh belt 105 in the arrow direction, andis filtered by weight by the mesh cells of the mesh belt 105, and isdewatered, and wet paper RP₀ (water content 90 to 85% in the illustratedpreferred embodiment) is obtained.

The white water W filtered and dewatered by this mesh belt 105 (pulpwater of ultra-low concentration filtered by the paper making mesh inthe paper making process) is collected in the white water collectiontank 45 of the water feed device 27 as mentioned above.

The dewatering roll unit 96 forms a location for squeezing anddewatering the wet paper RP₀ on the mesh belt 105 at the linkageposition of the paper making net conveyor unit 95 and the drying beltconveyor unit 97 described below.

Specifically, a smooth surface belt 145 mentioned below of the dryingbelt conveyor unit 97 at the downstream side, and the mesh belt 105 ofthe paper making net conveyor unit 95 at the upstream side are disposedin upper and lower layers as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, and the upperand lower adjacent portions of the smooth surface belt 145 and the meshbelt 105 are formed at the linkage portion, and at this linkage portion,the dewatering roll unit 96 rolls and compresses the mesh belt 105 andthe smooth surface belt 145 from upper and lower sides in a compressedstate, thereby dewatering the wet paper.

The dewatering roll unit 96 includes at least a preliminary dewateringroll unit 96A, and a final dewatering roll unit 96B as principalcomponents.

The dewatering roll unit 96 in the illustrated preferred embodimentincludes, as specifically shown in FIG. 1, the preliminary dewateringroll unit 96A, the final dewatering roll unit 96B, and an angle definingroll unit 96C as assisting means, as principal components.

The preliminary dewatering roll unit 96A is for squeezing and dewateringpreliminarily the wet paper RP₀ on the mesh belt 105, and specificallyincludes a preliminary squeezing roll pair 122 consisting of apreliminary dewatering roll 120 rolling on the mesh belt 105 from thelower side, and a preliminary press roll 121 rolling and pressing on thesmooth surface belt 145 from the upper side in collaboration with thepreliminary dewatering roll 120.

By the preliminary squeezing roll pair 122 consisting of the preliminarydewatering roll 120 and the preliminary press roll 121, the mesh belt105 and the smooth surface belt 145 are rolled and squeezed from bothupper and lower sides at a specified preliminary pressure in acompressed state, and the water content in the wet paper RP₀ on the meshbelt 105 is removed preliminarily.

In this case, the preliminary pressure, that is, the preliminarysqueezing force of the preliminary dewatering roll 96A for preliminarilysqueezing and dewatering the wet paper RP₀ on the mesh belt 105 is setat a magnitude so as not to destroy the wet paper RP₀ of high watercontent, and in the illustrated preferred embodiment, the preliminarysqueezing force is determined so that the water content of the wet paperRP₀ on the mesh belt 105 after preliminary dewatering process may be ina range of 80 to 75%.

The final dewatering roll unit 96B is for obtaining a dry paperspecified water content (recycled paper) RP by further squeezing anddewatering the wet paper RP₀ on the mesh belt 105 after preliminarydewatering by the preliminary dewatering roll unit 96A, and specificallyincludes at least one set of a final squeezing roll pair 127 consistingof a final dewatering roll 125 rolling on the mesh belt 105 from thelower side, and a final press roll 126 rolling and pressing on thesmooth surface belt 145 from the upper side in cooperation with thefinal dewatering roll 125.

By the final squeezing roll pair 127 consisting of the final dewateringroll 125 and the final press roll 126, the mesh belt 105 and the smoothsurface belt 145 are rolled and squeezed from both upper and lower sidesat a specified final pressure in a compressed state, and the watercontent in the wet paper RP₀ on the mesh belt 105 is finally removed,and a dry paper of specified water content, that is, recycled paper RPis obtained.

In this case, the final pressure, that is, the final squeezing force ofthe final dewatering roll 96B for finally squeezing and dewatering thewet paper RP₀ on the mesh belt 105 is set to such a magnitude forobtaining a specified dewatering effect securely about the preliminarilydewatered wet paper RP₀, and in the illustrated preferred embodiment, itis set so that the water content of the dry paper (recycled paper) RP onthe mesh belt 105 after the final dewatering process may be in a rangeof 70 to 65%.

These rolls 120, 121,125,126 in the dewatering roll unit 96 are notspecifically shown, but as being driven and coupled to the single drivemotor 106 by driving and coupling means of gear mechanism, all rolls120, 121,125,126 are rotated and driven in mutual interaction.

In this case, these rolls 120, 121,125,126 are rotated and controlled soas to roll and contact mutually at a slight rotating speed differencemutually on the outer circumferential surfaces of the upper and lowerrolls 120, 125 and the outer circumferential surfaces of 121, 126, onthe contact surfaces (the lower side of the mesh belt 105 and the upperside of the smooth surface belt 145) of the mesh belt 105 and the smoothsurface belt 145 rolled and squeezed in a compressed state between theouter circumferential surfaces.

Specifically, the rotating speed of the upper side preliminary and finalpress rolls 121, 126 is set slightly larger than the rotating speed ofthe lower side preliminary and final dewatering rolls 120, 125, andtherefore the running speed of the smooth surface belt 145 is setslightly larger than the running speed of the mesh belt 105. In suchconfiguration, as described below, when the wet paper RP₀ squeezed anddewatered by the dewatering roll unit 96 is transferred and conveyed tothe lower side of the upper side smooth surface belt 145 from the upperside of the lower side mesh belt 105, a tension is applied to the wetpaper RP₀, and wrinkling of the wet paper RP₀ is effectively prevented.

The angle defining roll unit (angle defining means) 96C is for assistingthe squeezing and dewatering action of the preliminary dewatering rollunit 96A and the final dewatering roll unit 96B to be effective, and itis provided at the upstream side of the preliminary dewatering roll unit96A, and defines the inclination angle between the mesh belt 105 and thesmooth surface belt 145 inserted in the preliminary dewatering roll unit96A.

The angle defining roll unit 96C is specifically for defining theinclination angle between the mesh belt 105 and the smooth surface belt145 inserted in the preliminary dewatering roll unit 96A, and morespecifically it includes a mesh belt guide roll 130 rolling on the meshbelt 105 from the lower side, and defining the insertion angle of themesh belt 105 in the preliminary dewatering roll unit 96A, and a smoothsurface belt guide roll 131 rolling on the smooth surface belt 145 fromthe upper side, and defining the insertion angle of the smooth surfacebelt 145 in the preliminary dewatering roll unit 96A. As mentionedbelow, this smooth surface belt guide roll 131 functions also as arolling roller 140 a of the belt meandering preventive unit 11 forpreventing meandering of the smooth surface belt 145 of the drying beltconveyor unit 97.

By the mesh belt guide roll 130, the insertion angle of the mesh belt105 in the preliminary dewatering roll unit 96A is defined, and by thesmooth surface belt guide roll 131, the insertion angle of the smoothsurface belt 145 in the preliminary dewatering roll unit 96A is defined,and therefore the inclination angle between the mesh belt 105 and thesmooth surface belt 145 is indirectly determined in a specified range.

The inclination angle of the mesh belt 105 and the smooth surface belt145 is determined so as to prevent effectively the wet paper RP₀ fromreturning to slurry by re-absorption of a large volume of squeezed waterinto the wet paper RP₀ after the water contained in the wet paper RP₀ isonce squeezed substantially to the upstream side of the preliminarydewatering roll unit 96A by the preliminary dewatering action by thepreliminary dewatering roll unit 96A.

That is, by the preliminary dewatering roll 120 and the preliminarypress roll 121 of the preliminary dewatering roll 96A, when the meshbelt 105 and the smooth surface belt 145 on which the wet paper RP₀ ismounted at the upper side are squeezed and rolled from the upper andlower sides in a compressed state, the water content in the wet paperRP₀, is squeezed out to the upstream side of the both rolls 120, 121.

In this case, if the inclination angle a between the mesh belt 105 andthe smooth surface belt 145 is too large, at a position near theupstream side of the both rolls 120, 121, the upper side smooth surfacebelt 145 is apart from the wet paper RP₀ on the lower side mesh belt105, and hence a part of the abundant squeezed water contained in thewet paper RP₀ may be absorbed again in the wet paper RP₀, and the wetpaper RP₀ may become slurry again.

By contrast, when the inclination angle α between the mesh belt 105 andthe smooth surface belt 145 is small, at a position near the upstreamside of the both rolls 120, 121, the upper side smooth surface belt 145is pressed to the wet paper RP₀ on the lower side mesh belt 105, andhence all of the water squeezed from the wet paper RP₀ drops to thelower side by way of the mesh belt 105, and is not absorbed again in thewet paper RP₀, and the wet paper RP₀ may be prevented from becomingslurry again.

The inclination angle a between the mesh belt 105 and the smooth surfacebelt 145 is preferably set in a range of 1 to 20 degrees as a result ofvarious tests, preferably 3 to 7 degrees, and it is set at 5 degrees inthe illustrated preferred embodiment.

Thus, by driving of the drive motor 106, the rolls 120, 121, 125, 126 ofthe preliminary dewatering roll 96A and the final dewatering roll 96B inthe dewatering roll unit 96 are put in rotation, and first by thepreliminary squeezing roll pair 122 in the preliminary dewatering roll96A, the mesh belt 105 and the smooth surface belt 145 are rolled andsqueezed from both upper and lower sides in a compressed state at aspecified preliminary pressure, and the water contained in the wet paperRP₀ on the mesh belt 105 is preliminarily removed (in the illustratedpreferred embodiment, the water content in the wet paper RP₀ is reducedfrom 90 to 85% to 80 to 75%).

In succession, by the final squeezing roll pair 127 in the finaldewatering roll unit 96B, the mesh belt 105 and the smooth surface belt145 are rolled and squeezed from both upper and lower sides in acompressed state at a specified final pressure, and the water containedin the wet paper RP₀ on the mesh belt 105 is finally removed, and thedry paper of specified water content, that is, the recycled paper RP isobtained (in the illustrated preferred embodiment, the wet paper RP₀ ofwater content of 80 to 75% is dewatered to the dry paper RP of watercontent of 70 to 65%). In this series of process, the white water Wsqueezed and dewatered from the wet paper RP₀ is collected in the whitewater collection tank 45 in the water feed device 27.

The wet paper RP₀ squeezed and dewatered by the dewatering roll unit 96is transferred and conveyed to the lower side of the upper side smoothsurface belt 145 from the upper side of the lower side mesh belt 105, ata downstream side location of the dewatering roll unit 96, and isconveyed together with the smooth surface belt 145, and is dried by thedrying process unit 97 in the drying process.

This transfer action is considered to be caused by a smooth surfacestructure of the smooth surface belt 145. That is, the surface of thelower side mesh belt 105 is a fine rough surface having multiple finecontinuous pores, whereas the surface of the upper side smooth surfacebelt 145 is a smooth surface without pores, and hence the dry paper RP₀slightly containing water seems to be adsorbed by the surface tensionagainst the surface of the smooth surface belt 145.

The belt meandering preventive unit 10 is to prevent meandering of themesh belt 105, and mainly includes a rolling roller 140, a rolleroscillating unit (roller oscillating means) 141, a belt meanderingdetector (belt detecting means) 142, a roller position detector (rollerdetecting means) 143, and a meandering control unit (control means) 144,as principal components.

The rolling roller 140 is designed to roll on the mesh belt 105 in apressure applying state, and more specifically one rolling roller 140 isconfigured to roll on a position not interfering with the processingfunction of the processing and conveying position of the mesh belt 105.

In the illustrated preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5,on the mesh belt 105, one rolling roller 140 is configured to roll onthe lower side position between the drive roller 107 and the driveroller 108, that is, at the position for composing the feedback processafter completion of the paper making process for manufacturing wet paperRP₀ by filtering and dewatering the pulp suspension PS.

The rolling roller 140 is a hollow cylindrical metal structure as shownin FIG. 6, in which both end parts 150 a, 150 b of its rotation supportshaft 150 is rotatably supported on a support bracket 152 by way ofbearings 151, 151, and this support bracket 152 is pivoted on a fixedside support unit 154 oscillatably in the horizontal direction by way ofa support shaft 153 fixed at the central position in its longitudinaldirection.

More specifically, support frames 54 a, 54 b of an apparatus machinebody 54 for composing the apparatus case 6 are extended parallel to therunning direction of the mesh belt 105, and the support frames forcomposing the fixed side support unit 154 are bridged and fixed on thesetwo support frames 54 a, 54 b, and the support shaft 153 of the supportbracket 152 is supported and held rotatably on a bearing unit 154 a ofthis fixed side support unit 154. As a result, the rolling roller 140rotatably supported on the support bracket 152 is oscillatable in thehorizontal direction around the center of oscillation of the supportshaft 153.

The rolling roller 140 is a metal roller made of stainless steel oraluminum alloy, and the rolling roller 140 in the illustrated preferredembodiment is a hollow cylindrical roller of stainless steel.

Since the rolling roller 140 rolls on the mesh belt 105 in a tensionapplying state, by controlling and adjusting the position of the rollingroller 140 with respect to the running direction of the mesh belt 105,meandering of the mesh belt 105 can be prevented or corrected by thefrictional force occurring between the rolling roller 140 and the meshbelt 105.

That is, referring to FIG. 9, while the rolling roller 140 is in anordinary state, that is, as shown in FIG. 9 (a), when the rotation axialline of the rolling roller 140, that is, the axial center X₁₅₀ of therotation support shaft 150 is held at a neutral position beingperpendicular to the running direction A of the mesh belt 105, therolling roller 140 functions as a running guide roller for rolling andguiding the mesh belt 105.

Or, when the rotation axial line X₁₅₀ of the rolling roller 140 is heldat a leftward inclination position inclined to the left from the neutralposition being perpendicular to the running direction A of the mesh belt105 (the position in FIG. 9 (a)), the rolling roller 140 acts to correctthe meandering motion in the left side direction by acting to move themesh belt 105 to the left side direction.

Similarly, when the rotation axial line X₁₅₀ of the rolling roller 140is held at a rightward inclination position inclined to the right fromthe neutral position being perpendicular to the running direction A ofthe mesh belt 105 (the position in FIG. 9 (a)), the rolling roller 140acts to correct the meandering motion in the right side direction byacting to move the mesh belt 105 to the right side direction.

The roller oscillating unit 141 is to oscillate the rolling roller 140in a direction intersecting with the running direction of the mesh belt105, and is composed of an oscillating cam mechanism (cam means) 160,and a drive motor (drive source) 161 for driving this oscillating cammechanism 160 by cam action.

The oscillating cam mechanism 160 is, as shown in FIG. 6, provided atone end part of the support bracket 152 for rotatably supporting therolling roller 140, and is specifically formed as a rotary cam to berotated by the drive motor 161 by cam action.

The oscillating cam mechanism 160 in the illustrated preferredembodiment is composed of a drive cam 160 a rotated and driven by thedrive motor 161, and a follower cam 160 b formed at one end part of thesupport bracket 152 and formed as an engaging groove to slide and engagewith the drive cam 160 a.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10 a, the drive cam 160 a is adisk-shaped eccentric cam having a disk cam mounted and fixedeccentrically on a rotation shaft 161 a of the drive motor 161, and thefollower cam 160 b is a U-shaped engaging groove to slide and engagewith this drive cam 160 a. The drive motor 161 is specifically anelectric motor, and this drive motor 161 is electrically connected tothe apparatus control unit 5.

By the rotating motion of the drive cam 160 a driven by the drive motor161, by way of the follower cam 160 b to slide and engage with thisdrive cam 160 a, the support bracket 152 and further the rolling roller140 are oscillated in the horizontal direction, so that the rollingroller 140 is positioned as shown in FIG. 9 (a) to (c), and therebymeandering of the mesh belt 105 is corrected as described below.

In this relation, the belt meandering detector 142 for detecting therunning state of the mesh belt 105, and the roller position detector 143for detecting the position of the rolling roller 140 are provided.

The belt meandering detector 142 is to detect whether or not the meshbelt 105 is running in an appropriate running range, and specifically asshown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, at the downstream side position of the meshbelt 105 passing through the drive roller 107, a pair of detectionsensors 142 a, 142 b are disposed upward respectively at the downwardposition at both sides in the width direction of the mesh belt 105 (seedouble dot chain line in FIG. 6)

The width direction range of the mesh belt 105 held by the pair ofdetection sensors 142 a, 142 b defines the appropriate running range ofthe mesh belt 105, and this appropriate running range is defined withina meandering allowable range for the mesh belt 105 to execute the papermaking process stably smoothly and stably for manufacturing wet paperRP₀ by filtering and dewatering the pulp suspension PS, and theappropriate running range is specifically determined actually byexperimental execution of the paper making process.

The detection sensors 142 a, 142 b are preferably contact-free positiondetection sensors, and in the illustrated preferred embodiment,reflection type photo sensors are used. These detection sensors 142 a,142 b are electrically connected to the apparatus control unit 5.

Referring now to FIG. 6, while the mesh belt 105 is running between thepair of detection sensors 142 a, 142 b, that is, while the mesh belt 105is running in the appropriate running range, either one of the detectionsensors 142 a, 142 b does not detect the presence of the mesh belt 105.When the mesh belt 105 meanders excessively to the left side, the leftside detection sensor 142 a detects the presence of the mesh belt 105,and when the mesh belt 105 meanders excessively to the right side, theright side detection sensor 142 b detects the presence of the mesh belt105, and the detection signal is sent to the apparatus control unit 5 asa control signal.

The roller position detector 143 detects the position of the rollingroller 140, that is, detects the axial center X₁₅₀ of the rolling roller140 is directed to which direction with respect to the running directionA of the mesh belt 105, and specifically it is disposed in relation tothe drive cam 160 a as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 10.

That is, the roller position detector 143 is composed of a rotor 143 afixed coaxially with the drive cam 160 a in the support frame 154, thatis, in relation to the rotating direction position of the drive cam 160a on the rotation shaft 161 a of the drive motor 161, and threedetection sensors 143 b, 143 c, 143 d for detecting the rotatingdirection position of the drive ca 160 a, that is, the position of therolling roller 140, from the rotating direction position of this rotor143 a.

The rotor 143 a is formed in a semicircular flat plate related to therotating direction position of the drive cam 160 a formed as adisk-shaped eccentric cam, and at both ends of the straight edge portionof this semicircular flat plate 143 a, notches are formed as shown inFIG. 10 (b).

The three detection sensors 143 b, 143 c, 143 d are disposed at an angleof 90 degrees along the outer peripheral edge of the rotor 143 a asshown in FIG. 10 (b), with respect to the rotor 143 a.

These three detection sensors 143 b, 143 c, 143 d are preferablycontact-free position detection sensors, and transmission type photointerrupters are used in the illustrated preferred embodiment. Thesedetection sensors 143 b, 143 c, 143 d are electrically connected to theapparatus control unit 5.

Referring now to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, when the rotor 143 a is at therotating direction position indicated by solid line in FIG. 10 (b), withrespect to the detection sensors 143 b, 143 c, 143 d, the rolling roller140 is at a neutral position (solid-line position in FIG. 10 (a)) shownin FIG. 9 (a), and at this time only the detection sensor 143 c at thecentral position detects the rotor 143 a, and its detection signal issent to the apparatus control unit 5 as a control signal. On the otherhand, the detection sensors 143 b, 143 d at both sides do not detect therotor 143 a (the detection sensors 143 b, 143 d allow to pass thetransmitted light through the notches in the rotor 143 a).

Further, when the rotor 143 a is at the rotating direction positionindicated by single-dot chain line in FIG. 10 (b), the rolling roller140 is at a left inclination position (single-dot chain line position inFIG. 10 (a)) shown in FIG. 9 (b), and at this time only the detectionsensor 143 b detects the rotor 143 a, and its detection signal is sentto the apparatus control unit 5 as a control signal. On the other hand,the remaining detection sensors 143 c, 143 d do not detect the rotor 143a (the detection sensor 143 c allows to pass the transmitted lightthrough the notches in the rotor 143 a).

Moreover, when the rotor 143 a is at the rotating direction positionindicated by double-dot chain line in FIG. 10 (b), the rolling roller140 is at a right inclination position (double-dot chain line positionin FIG. 10 (a)) shown in FIG. 9 (c), and at this time only the detectionsensor 143 d detects the rotor 143 a, and its detection signal is sentto the apparatus control unit 5 as a control signal. On the other hand,the remaining detection sensors 143 b, 143 c do not detect the rotor 143a (the detection sensor 143 c allows to pass the transmitted lightthrough the notches in the rotor 143 a).

The meandering control unit 144 controls the roller oscillating unit 141according to the detection results by the belt meandering detector 142and the roller position detector 143, and composes a part of theapparatus control unit 5, and automatically controls the drive motor 161of the roller oscillating unit 141 so a to execute the following beltmeandering correction process.

That is, the meandering control unit 144 is composed and configured asshown in FIG. 8, and receives the detection signals (control signals)from the detection sensors 142 a, 142 b of the belt meandering detector142, and maintains the neutral position so that the rolling roller 140may be perpendicular to the running direction A of the mesh belt 105while the running position of the mesh belt 105 is within an appropriaterunning range (see FIG. 9 (a)), and controls the drive motor 161 of theroller oscillating unit 141 so that the rolling roller 140 may bedirected in the meandering correcting direction for moving the runningposition of the mesh belt 105 within the appropriate running range (seeFIG. 9 (b) or (c)) when the running position of the mesh belt 105 is outof the appropriate running range.

On the other hand, the position of the rolling roller 140 is alwaysdetected by the roller position detector 143, and when the meanderingcontrol unit 144 detects that the running position of the mesh belt 105is corrected of meandering within the appropriate running range by thedetections signals from the detection sensors 142 a, 142 b of the beltmeandering detector 142, it controls the drive motor 161 of the rolleroscillating unit 141 so as to move and return the rolling roller 140 tothe neutral position (the position shown in FIG. 9 (a)) from the presentmeandering correcting position of the mesh belt 105 according to thedetection signals from the detection sensors 142 a, 142 b, 143 c of theroller position detector 143.

When the running position of the mesh belt 105 is out of the appropriaterunning range, a specific meandering correcting action by the rolleroscillating unit 141 is appropriately selected from the following: (A)the rolling roller 140 moves slowly and gradually from the neutralposition (the position shown in FIG. 9 (a)) toward the maximummeandering correcting direction position (the position shown in FIG. 9(b) or (c)), and when the running position of the mesh belt 105 iscorrected of meandering within the appropriate running range, therolling roller 140 is moved, returned and stopped at the neutralposition, or (B) the rolling roller 140 moves straightly from theneutral position to the maximum meandering correcting position directionposition and stops, and when the running position of the running belts105, 145 is corrected of meandering within the appropriate runningrange, the rolling roller moves and returns to the neutral position, andstops. In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the meanderingcorrecting action of (A) is employed.

Therefore, by the belt meandering preventive part 10, the mesh belt 105of the paper making net conveyor unit 95 executes the paper makingprocess for manufacturing wet paper RP₀ while filtering and dewateringthe pulp suspension PS, while running in an appropriate running rangedefined by the detection sensors 142 a, 142 b of the belt meanderingdetector 142.

The drying belt conveyor 97 is a location for manufacturing the recycledpaper RP by further heating and drying the dry paper RP squeezed anddewatered in the dewatering roll unit 96 in the paper making netconveyor unit 95, and is mainly composed of a drying conveyor 170 and adrying heating unit 171.

The drying conveyor 170 is for smoothing and conveying the wet paper RP₀squeezed and dewatered in the dewatering roll unit 96, and mainlyincludes the smooth surface belt 145, and the drive moor 106 for drivingand moving this smooth surface belt 145.

The smooth surface belt 145 is to convey the wet paper RP₀ while heatingand drying, and is specifically an endless belt connected and formed inan annular shape of a specified length of a plate material of smoothsurface structure having a specified width. The plate material of smoothsurface structure is finished in an appropriate smooth surface at oneside of the surface of the wet paper RP₀, and is made of a materialcapable of withstanding the heating action of the heating and dryingunit 171 described below, and preferably an elastic heat resistantmaterial is used such as fluorine resin or stainless steel, and afluorine resin belt is used in the illustrated preferred embodiment.

This smooth surface belt 145 is, as shown in FIG. 1, rotatably supportedand held by way of a drive roller 176, a driven roller 178, the beltmeandering preventive unit 11 and the dewatering roll unit 96, and isdriven and coupled to the drive motor 106 by way of the drive roller176.

The drive motor 106 for driving and moving the smooth surface belt 145is commonly used as the running and driving source of the paper makingconveyor 100 and the dewatering roll unit 96 as mentioned above.

The heating and drying unit 171 is a location for heating and drying thewet paper RP₀ on the smooth surface belt 145, and includes a heaterplate 180, as a heating unit, disposed in the midst of the running routeof the smooth surface belt 145.

This heater plate 180 is specifically configured to heat and dry the wetpaper RP₀ on the smooth surface belt 145 indirectly by way of the smoothsurface belt 145.

In the midst of the running route of the smooth surface belt 145, twosmooth surface finishing rolls 179, 179 are disposed, and are configuredso as to roll and pressurize the wet paper RP₀ on the smooth surfacebelt 145 sequentially, and thereby the surface of one side and thesurface of opposite side of the wet paper RP₀ contacting with thesurface of the smooth surface belt 145 may be finished to a propersmooth surface.

At the downstream side of the heating and drying unit 171 in the smoothsurface belt 145, a peeling member 181 is provided, and the dry paperdried and conveyed on the smooth surface belt 145, that is, the recycledpaper RP (water content 10 to 7%) is sequentially peeled from theholding side of the smooth surface belt 145.

In this relation, at the terminal end position of the running route ofthe smooth surface belt 145 at the downstream side of this peelingmember 151, a fixed size cutter unit 182 is provided, and the recycledpaper RP peeled off from the smooth surface belt 145 is cut to aspecified size (an A4 format in the illustrated preferred embodiment),and is discharged from the discharge port 8 of the apparatus case 6.

The belt meandering preventive unit 11 is to prevent meandering of thesmooth surface belt 145, and same as the belt meandering preventive unit10 of the mesh belt 105, it is mainly composed of, as shown in FIG. 7,rolling rollers 140 a, 140 b, 140 c, a roller oscillating unit 141, abelt meandering detector 142, a roller position detector 143, and ameandering control unit 144.

The components of the belt meandering preventive unit 11 are same inconfiguration as those of the belt meandering preventive unit 10 for themesh belt 105, except that the three rolling rollers 140 a, 140 b, 140 care provided.

That is, the smooth surface belt 145 to be corrected of meandering bythe belt meandering preventive unit 11 is a fluorine resin belt asmentioned above, and the smooth surface belt 145 of fluorine resin isinferior to the mesh belt 105 in elasticity and flexibility, and smoothand sufficient meandering preventive effect is not obtained by onerolling roller 140 alone, and hence the three rolling rollers 140 a, 140b, 140 c are provided in the belt meandering preventive unit 11.

The rolling configuration of these three rolling rollers 140 a, 140 b,140 c on the smooth surface belt 145 is as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5,that is, the smooth surface belt 145 is rolled and guided as beingextended to the upper side of the rolling roller 140 a, to the lowerside of the rolling roller 140 b, and to the upper side of the rollingroller 140 c.

Further, as mentioned above, the rolling roller 140 a of the beltmeandering preventive unit 11 also functions as the smooth surface beltguide roll 131 of the angle defining roll unit 96C, and hence theapparatus configuration is reduced in size and simplified in structure.

The other configuration and action of the belt meandering preventiveunit 11 are same as in the belt meandering preventive unit 10 for themesh belt 105, and specific description is omitted.

The apparatus control unit 5 is to control automatically by mutuallyinteracting the operations of the drive parts of the pulp concentrationadjustment unit 3 and the paper making unit 4, and is specificallycomposed of microcomputers formed of CPU, ROM, RAM, I/O port and others.

This apparatus control unit 5 incorporates programs for executing thepulp making process of the pulp making unit 2, the concentrationadjusting process of the concentration adjusting unit 3, and the papermaking process of the paper making unit 4, by interacting with eachother, and also stores various items of information necessary fordriving of the components 2 (20, 21), 3 (3A, 3B), and 4 (95, 96, 97, 10,11), for example, the driving time and rotating speed of the agitatingdevice 26 in the macerating unit 20, the water feed timing and waterfeed amount of the water feed device 27, the driving time andcirculation amount of the circulation pump 69 in the beating unit 21,the driving time and rotating speed of the grinder 50, the adjustingtiming and beating gap G adjusting amount of the gap adjusting means 57,the running speed of the conveyors 100, 170 in the paper making unit 4,the driving time of the heating and drying unit 171, the operationtiming of the fixed size cutter unit 152, and the operation timing ofthe belt meandering preventive units 10, 11, preliminarily as data, orfrom the keyboard as appropriate selective input data.

In the apparatus control unit 5, as mentioned above, the weight sensors48, 87, the detection sensors 142 a, 142 b, 143 b, 143 c, 143 d, and thedrive units 35, 56, 61, 66, 106 are connected electrically, and theapparatus control unit 5 controls these drive units 35, 56, 61, 66, 106,161 according to the measured values and the control data.

The used paper recycling apparatus 1 having such configuration isstarted when the power source is turned on, and the components 2 (20,21), 3 (3A, 3B), and 4 (95, 10, 96) are controlled automatically by theapparatus control unit 5 in mutual interaction, and the used paper UP,UP, . . . charged in the inlet 7 of the apparatus case 6 are maceratedand beaten by the macerating unit 20 and the beating unit 21 in the pulpmaking unit 2, and the used paper pulp UPP is manufactured, and furthera pulp suspension PS of a paper making concentration is manufactured inthe pulp concentration adjusting unit 3, and this pulp suspension PS ismanufactured in the paper making net conveyor unit 95 of the papermaking unit 4, the dewatering roll unit 96, and the drying belt conveyorunit 97, and recycled paper RP is obtained, which is discharged into therecycled paper receiving tray 9 from the discharge port 8 b of theapparatus case 6.

In this case, by the belt meandering preventive units 10, 11 in thepaper making unit 4, the rolling rollers 140, 140 a, 140 b, 140 c rollon the running belts of the paper making net conveyor unit 95 and thedrying belt conveyor unit 97, that is, the mesh belt 105 and the smoothsurface belt 145 in a tension applying state, and the roller oscillatingunit 141 oscillates the rolling rollers 140, 140 a, 140 b, 140 c in adirection intersecting with the running direction of the running belts105, 145, and while the running position of the running belts 105, 145is within the appropriate running range, the rolling rollers 140, 140 a,140 b, 140 c are maintained at a neutral position perpendicular to therunning direction of the running belts 105, 145, and when the runningposition of the running belts 105, 145 is out of the appropriate runningrange, the rolling rollers 140, 140 a, 140 b, 140 c are configured tocorrect the running position of the running belts 105, 145 in ameandering correcting direction to move into the appropriate runningrange, and therefore the structure suited to a very compact apparatusstructure of a used paper recycling apparatus of furniture size to beinstalled in a small shop or a general household room can be realized ina small and simple belt meandering preventive device, and hence therunning belts of the belt conveyor unit of the paper making unit can bedriven always stably within the appropriate running range, so that thepaper making process in a very narrow processing space can be executedsmoothly and efficiently at low trouble rate and high reliability.

Accordingly, the present invention realizes and presents a used paperrecycling apparatus of furniture size that can be installed not only ina large office, but also in a small shop or a general household, beingfriendly to the environment, low in running cost, capable of preventingleak or disclosure of confidential information, personal information,and various types of information, and capable of maintaining a highconfidentiality.

Preferred Embodiment 2

This preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 12, which is modified in thespecific configuration of the belt meandering preventive units 10, 11 inpreferred embodiment 1.

That is, in the belt meandering preventive unit 10 of this preferredembodiment, the roller oscillating unit 141 is formed as an oscillatingcylinder.

Specifically, the oscillating cylinder for composing this rolleroscillating unit 141 has its cylinder main body 141 a supportedoscillatably on a support frame 154 which is a fixed side support part,byway of a support shaft 190, and its piston rod 141 b is pivoted andcoupled to one end of a support bracket 152 for rotatably supporting therolling roller 140, by way of a support shaft 191.

By the protruding and retreating action of the piston rod 141 b of theoscillating cylinder 141, the support bracket 152 and the rolling roller140 are oscillated in a horizontal direction.

As the oscillating cylinder 141, preferably, an air cylinder device isused, and corresponding to the operation characteristic of this cylinderdevice, when the running position of the mesh belt 105 is out of theappropriate running range, the specific meandering correcting action bythe roller oscillating unit 141 is different from that of preferredembodiment 1, that is, out of the meandering correcting operations of(A) and (B) explained above, the meandering correcting operation of (B)is selected, and the rolling roller 140 is moved and stopped from theneutral position (the position shown in FIG. 9 (a)) immediately to themaximum meandering correcting direction position (the position shown inFIG. 9 (b) or (c)), and when the running position of the mesh belt 105is corrected of meandering to come within the appropriate running range,the rolling roller 140 moves and returns to the neutral position, andstops.

The other belt meandering preventive unit 11 is same as the beltmeandering preventive unit 10, and the other configuration and actionsare same as in preferred embodiment 1.

The foregoing preferred embodiments may be modified in design asdescribed below.

For example, the specific configuration of the belt meanderingpreventive units (belt meandering preventive means) 10 and 11 of thepresent invention is not limited to the illustrated preferredembodiments 1 and 2, and may be built in other different configurationhaving similar functions, and in particular the specific configurationof the paper making net conveyor unit 95 and the drying belt conveyorunit 97 to be prevented of meandering may be appropriately changed andmodified in design.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the spirit of essential characteristics thereof, thepresent preferred embodiment is therefore illustrative and notrestrictive, since the scope of the present invention is defined by theappended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and allchanges that fall within metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalenceof such metes and bounds thereof are therefore intended to be embracedby the claims.

1. A belt meandering preventive device of a used paper recyclingapparatus, being a belt meandering preventive device for preventingmeandering of running belts of a paper making unit for manufacturingrecycled paper from used paper pulp manufactured in a pulp making unitof a preceding process, in a used paper recycling apparatus of furnituresize to be installed at the site of origin of the used paper,comprising: a rolling roller rolling on the running belt of the beltconveyor unit for processing and conveying the used paper pulp sent fromthe pulp making unit, while applying a tension, roller oscillating meansfor oscillating this rolling roller in a direction intersecting with therunning direction of the running belt, and control means for controllingthis roller oscillating means according to the running state of therunning belt, wherein this control means controls the roller oscillatingmeans so that the rolling roller may maintain the neutral position so asto be perpendicular to the running direction of the running belt whenthe running position of the running belt is in an appropriate runningrange, and so that the rolling roller may be directed to a meanderingcorrecting direction for moving the running position of the running beltinto the appropriate running range when the running position of therunning belt is out of the appropriate running range.
 2. The beltmeandering preventive device of the used paper recycling apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the rolling position of the rolling roller on therunning belt is set at a location not interfering with the processingfunction of the processing and conveying location of the running belt.3. The belt meandering preventive device of the used paper recyclingapparatus of claim 1, wherein the rolling roller has its both ends ofthe rotation support shaft supported on a support bracket, and thesupport bracket is oscillatably pivoted on the fixed side support partby way of a support shaft provided at the central position in thelongitudinal direction.
 4. The belt meandering preventive device of theused paper recycling apparatus of claim 3, wherein the support bracketis pivoted on the fixed side support part so as to support the rollingroller in a horizontal state and to oscillate in a horizontal direction.5. The belt meandering preventive device of the used paper recyclingapparatus of claim 3, wherein the roller oscillating means includes cammeans provided at one end of the support bracket for supporting therolling roller rotatably, and a drive source for driving this cam meansby cam action, and by the cam action of the cam means by the drivesource, the support bracket is oscillated.
 6. The belt meanderingpreventive device of the used paper recycling apparatus of claim 5,wherein the cam means includes a drive cam formed as a disk-likeeccentric cam rotated and operated by the drive source, and a driven camformed at one end of the support bracket and made in a form of engaginggroove to slidably contact and engage with the drive cam, and by therotating motion of the drive cam, the support bracket oscillates by wayof the driven cam to slidably contact and engage with the drive cam. 7.The belt meandering preventive device of the used paper recyclingapparatus of claim 3, wherein the roller oscillating means is formed asan oscillating cylinder having a piston rod pivoted and coupled to oneend of the support bracket for rotatably supporting the rolling roller,and by the protruding and retreating motion of the piston rod of theoscillating cylinder, the support bracket is designed to oscillate. 8.The belt meandering preventive device of the used paper recyclingapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: belt detecting means fordetecting whether or not the running belt is running in an appropriaterunning range, wherein the control means is designed to controlaccording to the detection result of the belt detecting means so as tohold the rolling roller at a neutral position perpendicular to therunning direction of the running belt in the case the running positionof the running belt staying within an appropriate running range, tocontrol the roller oscillating means so that the rolling roller may beat a meandering correcting position for moving the running belt into theappropriate running range in the case the running position of therunning belt staying out of the appropriate running range.
 9. The beltmeandering preventive device of the used paper recycling apparatus ofclaim 8, wherein the meandering correcting action of the rolleroscillating means by the roller oscillating means is configured to movethe rolling roller to move gradually from the neutral position to themaximum meandering correcting direction position when the runningposition of the running belt is out of the appropriate running range,and to move the rolling roller to the neutral position to stop when therunning position of the running belt is corrected of meandering toreturn to the appropriate running range.
 10. The belt meanderingpreventive device of the used paper recycling apparatus of claim 8,wherein the meandering correcting action of the roller oscillating meansby the roller oscillating means is configured to move the rolling rollerto move instantly from the neutral position to the maximum meanderingcorrecting direction position and stop when the running position of therunning belt is out of the appropriate running range, and to move therolling roller to the neutral position to stop when the running positionof the running belt is corrected of meandering to return to theappropriate running range.
 11. The belt meandering preventive device ofthe used paper recycling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the running beltof the belt conveyor unit is a mesh belt of a paper making net conveyorunit for manufacturing wet paper from the slurry-like pulp suspensionmixed of water and used paper pulp.
 12. The belt meandering preventivedevice of the used paper recycling apparatus of claim 1, wherein therunning belt of the belt conveyor unit is a smooth surface belt of adrying belt conveyor unit for manufacturing recycled paper by drying thewet paper manufactured in the paper making net conveyor unit in apreceding process.
 13. A paper making device of a used paper recyclingapparatus, being a paper making device, applied in a used paperrecycling apparatus of furniture size to be installed at the site oforigin of used paper, for manufacturing recycled paper from used paperpulp manufactured in a pulp making unit of a preceding process,comprising: a paper making net conveyor unit for manufacturing wet paperfrom a slurry-like pulp suspension mixed of water and used paper pulpsent from the pulp making unit, a drying belt conveyor unit formanufacturing recycled paper by drying the wet paper manufactured inthis paper making net conveyor unit, and a dewatering roll unit forsqueezing and dewatering the wet paper at a linkage part of the papermaking net conveyor unit and the drying belt conveyor unit, wherein thepaper making net conveyor unit and the drying belt conveyor unitindividually have running belts for processing and conveying the usedpaper pulp manufactured in the pulp making unit, and also have beltmeandering preventive means for preventing meandering of these runningbelts, this belt meandering preventive means has a rolling rollerrolling on the running belt of the belt conveyor unit for processing andconveying the used paper pulp sent from the pulp making unit, whileapplying a tension, roller oscillating means for oscillating thisrolling roller in a direction intersecting with the running direction ofthe running belt, and control means for controlling this rolleroscillating means according to the running state of the running belt,and this control means controls the roller oscillating means so that therolling roller may maintain the neutral position so as to beperpendicular to the running direction of the running belt when therunning position of the running belt is in an appropriate running range,and so that the rolling roller may be directed to a meanderingcorrecting direction for moving the running position of the running beltinto the appropriate running range when the running position of therunning belt is out of the appropriate running range.
 14. A used paperrecycling apparatus comprising, in an apparatus case of furniture size,a pulp making unit for manufacturing used paper pulp by macerating andbeating used paper, a paper making unit for manufacturing recycled paperby making from the used paper pulp manufactured in this pulp makingunit, and a control unit for driving and controlling the pulp makingunit and the paper making unit in cooperation, wherein the paper makingunit includes a paper making net conveyor unit for manufacturing wetpaper from a slurry-like pulp suspension mixed of water and used paperpulp sent from the pulp making unit, a drying belt conveyor unit formanufacturing recycled paper by drying the wet paper manufactured inthis paper making net conveyor unit, and a dewatering roll unit forsqueezing and dewatering the wet paper at a linkage part of the papermaking net conveyor unit and the drying belt conveyor unit, the papermaking net conveyor unit and the drying belt conveyor unit individuallyhave running belts for processing and conveying the used paper pulpmanufactured in the pulp making unit, and also have belt meanderingpreventive means for preventing meandering of these running belts, thisbelt meandering preventive means has a rolling roller rolling on therunning belt of the belt conveyor unit for processing and conveying theused paper pulp sent from the pulp making unit, while applying atension, roller oscillating means for oscillating this rolling roller ina direction intersecting with the running direction of the running belt,and control means for controlling this roller oscillating meansaccording to the running state of the running belt, and this controlmeans controls the roller oscillating means so that the rolling rollermay maintain the neutral position so as to be perpendicular to therunning direction of the running belt when the running position of therunning belt is in an appropriate running range, and so that the rollingroller may be directed to a meandering correcting direction for movingthe running position of the running belt into the appropriate runningrange when the running position of the running belt is out of theappropriate running range.